Rotary spring stuffing box



Oct. 6, 1931. E. GREMMINGER 1,826,212

ROTARY SPRING STUFFING BOX Filed May 6, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VENTOR. fprvs's 7 GREMMl/VGE}? A TTORNE YS.

Oct. 6, 1931. E. GREMMINGER 1,826,212

ROTARY SPRING STUFFING BOX Filed May 6, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 YATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 6, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROTARY SPRING STUFIINGBOX Application filed May 6, 1929. Serial No. 860,901.

My invention relates to improvements in rotary spring stufiing boxes,and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangementshereinafter described and I claimed.

In certain types of machines that pump gases, it is absolutely essentialto prevent the escape of these gases from the machine and this isespecially true if the gas is poisonous.

The principal object of my invention is to provide means for trappingthe gas at the place where it is most likely to leak out-that is, at theshaft bearing. I employ centrifugal force for trapping the gas.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the typedescribed which makes use of novel means for automatically taking upwear in the sealing mechanism. T he device can also be used forpreventing flow of air into the machine as well as preventing theleaking of the gas out of the machine.

Other objects and advantages Will appear in the following specification,and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a partof this application, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal section throughone form of the device; and

Figure 2 is a section through a modified form.

In carrying out my invention, I make use of a pump shaft 1 which may bedriven by a pulley 2 or other suitable means. The shaft passes through aWall of a casting 3 as shown in the drawing and is journaled in rollerbearings, indicated generally at 4, (see Figure 1).

The gases within the casting 3 will have a tendency to pass between thecasting 3 and aring 5. In normal practice, the ring is ufiiced away froman opening 6 in the casting and it is through this space that the gasesleak.

The gases pass around the roller bearings 7 and on into a compartment 8formed by a housing 9 that is secured to the casting 3 by means of bolts10 or other suitable fastening means. The shaft 1 carries a collar 11that is threaded on to the shaft at 12 and rotates therewith.

Novel means is provided for trapping the gas in the compartment 8. Itwill be noted that the housing 9 has an inwardly-extending flange 13 andthat a cup shaped member 14 is rotatably mounted in the housing and isoperatively connected to the collar 11 so as to rotate therewith. The 50means connecting the cup-shaped member 14 to the collar 11 comprises apin 15 that is shdably received in a slot 16 in the collar 11. The slotpermits longitudinal movement of the pin, but carries the pin aroundwlth the shaft. In this way, the cup member 14 will rotate in thehousing 9 when the shaft 1 rotates.

The bottom 17 of the cup 14 is held against the flange 13 by means of aspring 18. This spring bears against the collar 11 and against thebottom of the cup. The cup is provided with an opening 19 in its bottomfor receiving the shaft 1 and this opening is sealed from thecompartment 8 by a diaphragm 20. The ends of this diaphragm bear againsta ring 21 secured to the collar 11 and a ring 22 secured to the bottomof the cup 17.

An annular groove 24 is formed at the bottom of the housing 9, andpassageways 25, formed in the cup 14, lead from the interior of the cupto the groove 24.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, theoperation thereof may be readily understood.

As already stated, the gas will tend to pass into the compartment 8where it will be rotated, due to the rotating collar 11. x

This will cause the gas to move outwardly, due to centrifugal force, anda portion of it will pass between the cup 14 and the housing 9 and intothe annular groove 24. Some of the gas will pass on into the cup 14,then through the passages 25 and on to the groove 0 24." Therapidly-rotating gas in the groove 24 will be prevented from movinginwardly along the inside of the flange 13 because of centrifugal force.The gas will therefore be 100 trapped in the compartment 8 and in theaeaaaia T 9 ill Wad? l M u in e p s a e o r om within the dia- 51001645: ahul whim lcs'v'rh Q, w a. y A c. b g W- Lee A pressure until thispressure counterbalances the pressure of the gases flowing into thecompartment 8. It will he seen. therefore that a rapid rotation of thegases and the trapping of them will prevent any leakage.

The spring 18 constantly keeps the 14iseated on the flange 13 and isdesigned to automatically take up wear between the cup The diaphragm 20expands as the cup is moved toward the flange 13 and therefore willalways provide a perfect seal between the compartment 8 andthe open in19.

n Figure 2, I show a slightly modified form of the device. In this form,the air outside of the machine is prevented; from gaining accessthereto, as well as the gas within the machine is prevented from leakingout. A shaft 50 is rotatably mounted in a casting 51 and is journaled inroller bearings 52. The gases within the machine will tend to passthrough a passageway 53 and then on into a compartment 54;. A cup member55 bears against a flange 56 of a housing 57 and is held thereagainst bya spring 58. A sleeve 59 is threaded on the shaft 50 at 60 and rotateswith the shaft.

The cup 55 also rotates with the shaft and is operatively secured to thesleeve 59 by a set screw 61 carried by the sleeve and-entering a slot 62in the cup 55. This construction causes the cup to rotate with thesleeve.

The gases will be rotated in the compartment 54 and will pass on into anannular groove 63 in the housing 57. At this point, they will either betrapped by centrifugal force or may flow into the interior 64 of thecup. Through an' outlet 65, the interior of the cup may be connectedwith the interior of the machine for guiding the trapped gases back tothe latter.

Air is prevented from entering the ma chine by a structure similar tothat already described, but disposedin a reverse order. The housing 57has aportion 66 that is secured thereto by bolts 67 or other suitablefastening means. The portion 66 has a flange 68, and a cup-shaped member69 is rot'atably mounted in the portion 66 and bears against the flange68, due to the force of the spring 58. The cup 69 is rotated by theshaft 50. It will be noted that a ring 70 is secured to the cup 69 andthat the ring is operatively connected to the shaft by a set screw 71,which in turn is secured to a member 72 that is keyed to the shaft.

Rings 73 and 74 are secured to each other and to the sleeve 59. A ring75 is secured to the cup 55 and a diaphragm 76 is disposed between therings 73 and 75. A second diaphragm 77 is disposed between the rings 70and 74. These two diaphragms prevent any leakage of gas from the cupsand also prephragms to a place within the cups.

The air entering an opening 78 and the portion 66 will tend to flow intoa roove 79 in the por ion, to centrifugal force, and then he Thistrapping of the air prevents iU passing on into the machine.

have air 7 forth how the gas is prevented from le from the machine andit will therefor seer the form of the device shown rgure 2 will preventgas from leaking or of the machine and air from passing in e machine.

The stuffin sexes shown in the two figures are spaced from the shafts soas to clear them. The stuiiing boxes will therefore not be affected byvibration of the shaft nor by the expansion of the latter through heat.

Although have shown and described two embodiments of my invention, is tobe understood that the same is susceptible of various changes, and Ireserve the right to employ such changes as may come within the scope ofthe appended claims.

claim:

l. The combination with a shaft, of a housing encircling said shaft andhaving an inwardly-extending flange, a cup-shaped mem. ber slidablymounted within said housin and rotatable on the flange, yielding meansfor keeping the cup seated on the flange and a diaphragm sealed to theshaft and to the cup.

2. A stuffing box comprising a housing for encircling a shaft, saidhousing having an inwardly-extending flange at each end thereof and apair of rotatable members mounted in said housing for causing a mediumwithin the housing to be thrown to the wall by centrifugal force and tobe trapped by said flanges and spring means for keeping said rotatablemembers in yielding contact with said flanges.

3. A stufling box comprising a housing for encircling a shaft, saidhousing having an inwardly-extending flange at each end thereof and apair of rotatable members mounted in said housing for causing a mediumwithin the housing to be thrown to the wall by centrifugal force and tobe trapped by said flanges, spring means for keeping said rotatablemembers in yielding contact with said flanges and a diaphragm sealingthe shaft and the rotatable members against a fluid passingtherebetween.

4. A stuffing box comprisin a housing having an inwardly-extending angc,a cupshaped member rotatably mounted in said housing and having anopenin in its bottom, means for rotating the mem er, means for forcingthe member against said flange, said housing having a shaft centrallydisposed thereof and extending through said cupshaped member and adiaphragm sealing the shaft and the interior of the cup-shaped memberfor preventing the flow of a fluid into the cup-shaped member.

5. A stufling box comprisin a housing for encircling a shaft, saidhousing having an inwardly extending flange at each end thereof and apair of rotatable members mounted in said housing and snugly bearingagainst said flanges for causing a medium within the housing to bethrown to the wall by centrifugal force and to be trapped by saidflanges.

6. A stufling box for a shaft comprising a housing for receiving anescaping medium from a machine, said housing having an inwardlyextending flange and a recess formed in the latter, a rotatable membermounted in said housing for causing the medium therein to becentrifugally thrown into the recess, and yielding means for urging themember into contact with the flange, whereby the medium in said recesswill form a seal between the flange and the rotating member.

7. A stuifing box comprising a housing for receiving a medium leakingfrom a machine, said housing having an inwardly extending flange and arecess formed in the latter, and a rotatable cup-shaped member mountedin said housing and bearing against said flange, said cup-shaped memberhaving apertures leading from the interior thereof and communicatingwith said recess, the medium in said housing being centrifugally forcedthrough said apertures and into said recess when the cup-shaped memberis revolved.

8. A stufling box comprising a housing for receiving a medium, saidhousing having an inwardly extending flange at each end thereof andrecesses formed in the latter, and a pair of rotatable members mountedin said housing and bearing against said flanges for causing the mediumWithin the housing to be centrifugally thrown again-st the wall thereofand into the recesses.

9. A stnfling box comprising a housing for receiving a medium, saidhousing having an inwardly extending flange at each end thereof andrecesses formed in the latter, rotatable members mounted in said housingand bearing against said flanges for centrifugally throwing the mediumin the housing against the wall thereof andinto the recesses, and aspring disposed'between said members for urging the latter into contactwith said flanges.

ERNEST GREMMINGER.

